STRACHAN reckons the Celtic midfielder's reputation is unfounded as he prepares to lead his country out for the first time tonight against Estonia.

GORDON STRACHAN last night handed Scott Brown the Scotland armband – then insisted the Celtic skipper is far from the pantomime villain he’s made out to be.

Strachan was the manager who splashed out £4.5million to take Brown to Parkhead from Hibs in the summer of 2007 and now the pair have been thrust back together as part of a new-look international set up.

The job begins tonight at Pittodrie where, in the absence of Darren Fletcher and Gary Caldwell, Brown will lead Strachan’s first Scotland side out for a friendly against Estonia.

Strachan admitted yesterday that even though Brown has now turned 27, he may never fully grow up or lose his devilish side.

But he then launched into a staunch defence of Brown’s character and traits as he explained why the country’s football fans – and even Record Sport’s very own Hugh Keevins – have got him all wrong.

Strachan said: “As a person, I think what you see on TV won’t make him a lot of people’s best friend. But that’s what you see on TV.

“A lot of people are like that when they play football. But I hope in life you are judged upon what you are as a person and as a person he is different class.

“He has never had a problem with anybody I know who has worked around him and he has had a lot to deal with in his life, on and off the field.

“He is mentally strong. He’s a bit like Neil Lennon that way. Whatever goes on around him doesn’t affect what he is meant to be doing as a football player.

“He is captaining his club just now and captaining it at a high level in the Champions League. So he knows what the captaincy is all about. It is a stressful job but it’s a good job.

“The main things is that Scott is good with people – if you actually know him. I don’t think there’s anybody he ever met who fell out with him ... apart from Hugh!

“I looked round this morning, Scott wasn’t training but he was talking to everyone at the Aberdeen sports centre and they loved his company.

“Everybody who meets him thinks he’s fantastic. It’s just if you meet him on the pitch he becomes a different person. That’s what we are when we enter the pitch.”

Strachan lost vice-captain Caldwell yesterday as the defender was forced to return to Wigan to nurse a hip injury.

Leeds United striker Ross McCormack and Blackburn’s Grant Hanley also travelled south, having been ruled out of tonight’s clash, while Brown’s Celtic team-mate James Forrest was granted early leave as well.

But it was Caldwell’s departure which convinced Strachan the time is right for Brown to take on an extra mantle at international level.

He continued: “Has he matured over the years? I don’t think he will ever mature. Seriously.

“But during my time at Celtic I always knew he was good with people and I knew he was single minded.

“Things weren’t great for him when he first came to the club but he never let that affect anybody else.

“So you saw at that point that he was thinking about other people, which is a good thing.

“He was always a terrific player, that’s why we bought him from Hibs.

“You just need to learn that there is a natural thing there, you just have to let him go sometimes.

“He does things that are not in the training manual, it is athletic ability and a big heart. Sometimes you just have to let that go.”

Brown was also infamously caught up in the Boozegate scandal which finished the Scotland career of former skipper Barry Ferguson and he still relishes his role of prankster in chief around the Scotland HQ.

But Strachan said: “We’ve had all that nonsense. At Celtic Steven Pressley was going to string him up in the first pre-season tour we went on because something happened in his room.

“I don’t think Elvis has ever fully recovered.

“But you could say the same kind of things about Roy Keane at Manchester United. There was a devil inside him too but Sir Alex Ferguson always picked him.

“I’m not saying he’s Roy Keane, let’s get that right before we go any further, he is not as good as Keane.

“But he’s got that energy about him. Scott can’t stop.

“We said to him you can’t train indoors, just have a rest today but he said ‘no, no’ then went away running down the beach somewhere. That’s the way he is.”

Strachan then insisted that with Celtic’s Champions League epic against Juventus now just a week away, he will not risk burning Brown out against the Estonians.

He said: “Lenny is leaving it up to me. I know Lenny’s plans for the next week or so. That’s fine and that’s why we sent young James home.

“It was heavy going on Sunday and it will be heavy going for this game.”